Feathers and Flame by N. B. Snook

Author:N. B. Snook [Snook, N. B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
Amazon: B09YM9ZFNW
Goodreads: 60863072
Publisher: Snowstorm Press
Published: 2022-04-21T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Fire and Water

“Something stinks,” Luella says as I enter the kitchen. She’s standing over a small cast-iron cauldron stirring its contents with a wooden ladle. Steam washes over her as she peers inside, making her hair shimmer as if bathed in moonlight. The scent of peppermint and fennel linger in the air, so the realization that she means any foul odour is coming from me takes me aback.

I sniff my shirt. Although I smell nothing other than horse, I imagine I probably smell worse to others. “Sorry, I hadn’t noticed. I actually don’t mind the smell of manure.”

Luella snorts. “What a surprise.”

Before I can respond, Chantria scurries past me, balancing a tray of an inordinate amount of glasses in need of washing. For a feeble woman with a limp, she seems more sure on her feet than I would be if I held that amount of glassware.

“Lu, dear, would you mind?”

Chantria sets the glasses down on the countertop beside a large basin that resembles a sink. Luella holds a hand above the basin and, much to my amazement, it fills with water. The water rises so quickly that it sloshes and splashes over. As if it was intentional, more than a few droplets hit me where I stand. I don’t mind, though. I’d just seen the impossible all over again, and for the first time, no one was trying to kill me. A small splash of water is a welcome change to a death tornado.

“That’s incredible,” I say, unable to keep my amazement to myself. “You can just make water? Just like that?”

Luella looks at me and rolls her eyes in response, making it clear that it’s the only answer I’m going to get from her.

Chantria smiles at me as she puts the glasses one by one into the water. “She draws moisture from the air. Something can’t come from nothing, except, of course, in very rare cases.”

“Rare cases?” I ask, noticing her emphasis on the words.

I listen entranced as she plunges a rag into the now bubbly water and washes each of the glasses.

“Luella can manipulate water, but it must come from a source. In this case, the air. Have you noticed the humidity here? It’s ideal for Aquacons—that’s what we call water Conduits. Donovan and I are Aercons, so we can manipulate the air around us.” She waves a hand and I feel the air in the room shift as if someone had turned on a fan. “And you’ve seen what Kieran can do with the earth.”

“What about Wolf?”

“He’s also a Terracon, though his abilities are more tailored to plants. He can make seeds grow faster or make plants move at will. But, of course, he can’t create growth from nothing.”

There’s a pause as I take it all in. Her eyes find mine as if there’s something else she needs to say. I wait for her to finish.

“None of those things compare to what you can do as a true Ignicon. There have been some of us

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